Penny Wong walks out on Russia’s Sergey Lavrov

Penny Wong has walked out of the East Asia Summit during Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s address to the regional foreign ministers meeting in Phnom Penh.

Penny Wong at the East Asia Summit foreign ministers’ meeting in Phnom Penh on Friday. Picture: DFAT / Michael Godfrey

Penny Wong has walked out of the East Asia Summit during Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s address to the regional foreign ministers meeting in Phnom Penh, in protest at Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

A spokeswoman confirmed Australia’s Foreign Minister walked out on Moscow’s diplomat, saying: “Minister Wong could not sit through Mr Lavrov’s attempt to justify the murder of innocent Ukrainians.”

The Australian understands it was not a co-ordinated protest, and Australia was represented during Mr Lavrov’s address by an official. Senator Wong’s protest comes a day after she arrived in the Cambodian capital for a series of ASEAN-led meetings and called for all parties to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Straits.

But she was not the only one to walk out of the 18 member nation foreign ministers’ summit on Friday.

Amid escalating tensions over China’s live fire drills around the Taiwan Strait in retaliation for US house speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi joined Mr Lavrov in their own walkout as their Japanese counterpart began speaking.

The two ministers left their seats in protest at Tokyo’s criticism of Beijing’s military exercises, while Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi was speaking – a day earlier Mr Wang cancelled bilateral talks with Mr Hayashi.

The Japanese government has described China’s firing of ballistic missiles – five of which landed in its exclusive economic zone southwest of Okinawa’s Hateruma Island on Thursday – as an “extremely coercive” move. “This is a grave issue that concerns our country’s national security and the safety of the people,” Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said.

Senator Wong’s symbolic protest comes a day after Russian steel billionaire Alexander Abramov launched legal action against the Australian Foreign Minister over sanctions imposed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that he claims has caused him severe reputational damage. He is understood to be among 67 Russian elites targeted by the Australian government for sanctions.